Technological Field
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a multi-functional peripheral (MFP) and technologies related to an image forming apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
There is a high-speed startup technique (also referred to as a hibernation startup technique or the like) with which a user can use the functions of an MFP in a short time when the user turns on a main power supply of the MFP (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-10470, for example). With this technique, it is possible to start up faster than with a normal startup process (a startup process which performs a hardware initialization process, a kernel activation process, a firmware activation process, and the like).
In the high-speed startup technique, supply of power is not terminated immediately in response to a turn-off operation of a main power switch, but even after the turn-off operation there is a period (a power supply continuation period) in which the supply of power is continued, and in the period a process is performed to store device state information (also referred to as saving target information). In more detail, to be ready for the next turning on of the main power switch, a process is performed to store, in a nonvolatile storage, the device state information (data in a random-access memory (RAM) of a controller, data stored in registers of processing units, and other data) at the time of turning off of the main power switch (the process is also referred to as a snapshot obtaining process). Then, when the main power switch is turned on again, the device state information (snapshot data) obtained in the immediately preceding snapshot obtaining process is used. By this operation, the MFP can fast return back to an activated state (in detail, the state (ready state) in which jobs can be performed).
In some cases, in such a high-speed startup process as described above (a high-speed startup process using snapshot data obtained in an immediately preceding snapshot obtaining process), the snapshot data is failed to be obtained. For example, if a user unplugs the alternating current (AC) plug from an AC outlet (plug receptor) before completion of a power supply continuation period following the turn-off operation of the main power switch (in other words, during an obtaining process of the snapshot data), the supply of power to the MFP is shut off, and the obtaining process of the snapshot data is thus interrupted, whereby valid snapshot data is not generated. That is, the snapshot data is failed to be obtained.
If the snapshot data is failed to be obtained as described above, such a high-speed startup process (also referred to as a first high-speed startup process) as described above is not performed at the next power-on operation. In this case, a normal startup process can be performed, for example. Alternatively, it can be considered that another high-speed startup process slower than the first high-speed startup process (also referred to as a second high-speed startup process) (the second high-speed startup process having a longer required time period than the first high-speed startup process) is performed.
The second high-speed startup process is realized, for example, by activating application software such as firmware after performing a returning process using the second snapshot data (to be described next) after the power-on operation. In this process, the second snapshot data is the data which is obtained as the snapshot data (the second snapshot data) representing the state in which processing has been completed up to a kernel activation process of an operating system (OS), and the second snapshot data is stored in a nonvolatile storage (an embedded Multi Media Card (eMMC) or the like). In the second high-speed startup process, after a process (a snapshot developing process) in which the second snapshot data is written back in the volatile storage is performed, a startup process of application software such as firmware is performed.
Note that in the first high-speed startup process, the snapshot data (first snapshot data) memorizing the state in which the application software such as firmware is also activated is used; thus, the startup process of the application software such as firmware itself is not performed. Therefore, the first high-speed startup process has a higher speed than the second high-speed startup process.
In a normal startup process, a required time period from when a power-on operation is performed to when an operation of a user can be accepted (when an operation screen is displayed) is quite long (for example, about one minute). In contrast, in the second high-speed startup process, the required time period is shorter (for example, about over 10 seconds) than in the normal startup process. Further, in the first high-speed startup process, the required time period is shorter (for example, a few seconds) than in the second high-speed startup process.
As described above, there is “variation” in the time period from immediately after the power-on operation to the completion of the startup of the MFP.
Meanwhile, in some cases, a user having performed a power-on operation of an MFP wants to roughly know how long the user has to wait until the MFP becomes operable. For example, if the user will be able to operate setting operations in about a few seconds, the user will wait without doing anything. However, if the user has to wait longer than about a few seconds until the user can perform setting operations, the user would like to do other work (paper replenishment work, work of setting documents in an automatic document feeder (ADF), or the like) in some cases.
As a technology to meet such a need, it can be considered to display an “advance notice screen” indicating that an operation screen will be displayed soon (the MFP will be operable soon), during a firmware activation process and a few seconds (for example, three seconds) before the operation screen is displayed. As the advance notice screen, a screen containing a logo (a corporate mark or the like) of an MFP manufacturer can be used, for example. In other words, the display of the screen containing the logo gives an advance notice that the MFP will be ready soon (the MFP transitions to the operable state). The user can know, based on whether the advance notice screen is displayed, whether the time left until the MFP becomes operable is shorter or longer than a predetermined time, for example, a few seconds.
The above advance notice screen may be displayed during the firmware activation process, in the normal startup process and the second high-speed startup process.
However, in the first high-speed startup process, since the returning process is performed using the first snapshot data (the snapshot data for restoring the state at a predetermined time after the firmware and the like are activated), the firmware activation process itself is not performed. Therefore, it is impossible to display the advance notice screen during the firmware activation process, and it is thus not easy to display the advance notice screen in the first high-speed startup process.
To address this issue, it can be considered to display the advance notice screen at a predetermined time after the power-on operation (for example, immediately after the hardware initialization process) without exception. Note that in this case, the advance notice screen functions normally when the first high-speed startup process is performed; however, the advance notice screen does not function normally when the second high-speed startup process or the normal startup process is performed. In detail, when the first high-speed startup process is performed, the MFP actually transitions to the operable state in about a few seconds after the advance notice screen is displayed; therefore, the advance notice screen functions normally. On the other hand, when the second high-speed startup process or the normal startup process is performed, the required time period from when the advance notice screen is displayed to when the MFP transitions to the operable state needs to be longer than a few seconds (for example, about over 10 seconds to over 20 seconds); therefore, the advance notice screen does not function normally. The user who sees the advance notice screen can determine (expect) that the MFP will transition to the operable state in about a few seconds; however, the user has to wait a period longer than a few second, contrary to expectation.